


My first. My only.

by ObsidiannDreamm



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-04 07:53:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21194207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObsidiannDreamm/pseuds/ObsidiannDreamm
Summary: This is the first time I'm posting my work online. I'm open to constructive criticism, but please be gentle. Also, please tell me if you like it! Thanks for reading <3





	My first. My only.

I am woken by my cell phone as it vibrates loudly on top of my tall oak dresser. I rub the sleep from my eyes, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. I stretch, my arms reaching for the ceiling. With a small hop I am off the bed, and I hiss as my feet hit the cold, hardwood floors. I half stumble to the dresser and scowl at the name on the call display. I accept the call, and bring the phone to my ear.  
“Spirit.” I use his name, hoping to indicate how utterly furious I am that he woke me up. I am greeted with his sniffles. Lord Death help me is he drunk?  
“Maka…” his voice cracks. He is fucking wasted. A long silence hangs in the air, any trace of patience I have is quickly evaporating. He sobs quietly on the other end of the line.  
“If you have something to say spit it out already. I’d like to go back to sleep sooner rather than later.” I pinch the bridge of my nose, he knows I am not a morning person by any means. I am about to hang up on him.  
“She’s gone, baby. Mama’s gone.” He cries loudly now, holding nothing back.  
“Yeah, she left, thanks to you.” he sobs on the other end of the phone.  
“No, Maka, you don’t understand.”  
“You’re drunk, Spirit.” I’m about to hang up, but he starts up again.  
“She’s dead. Mama’s dead, I’m so sorry baby.” the room spins around me, and I can’t keep my balance. My legs give out from under me, and I painfully land on my knees. Fuck, I can’t breathe. My chest hurts, everything hurts. Tears spill over, hot against my cheeks. It can’t be true, she can’t be dead. I lash out at him.  
“YOU’RE LYING! YOU’RE FUCKING LYING! YOU’RE JUST ANGRY BECAUSE I TOOK HER SIDE IN THE DIVORCE!” I scream so loud my throat feels like it’s ripping itself apart. My empty fist beats against the dresser before I slump against it. Soul rolls off of the bed, I forgot he was even there. He rips the phone out of my hand and tosses it to the side. Sitting cross legged he pulls me into his lap, and I sob loudly into his bare chest. He strokes my hair lovingly; he doesn’t ask why I’m upset he just knows I need him. “Mama’s not dead. She can’t be.”  
I wake up later, Soul must have brought me to bed. He kisses me gently on the forehead, he gets off of the bed and internally I panic.  
“Shh, it’s okay I’m going to run us a bath.” he says, leaning over and kissing me softly. He walks to the bathroom, and I nestle further into the nest of blankets and pillows he made for me. I rub my eyes and feel how swollen and sore they are. New tears quietly spill over, and I bury my face into our comforter. I can hear the running water come to a stop, and I peak over to see him walking towards me. He peels me out of the blankets and picks me up bridal style, the warm humid air hits me first. He sets me down and pulls off his pajama pants, climbing into the still steaming water. I pull off his shirt and follow him in. The water is the perfect temperature, I sit between his legs my back pressed against his chest. He moves my hair over my right shoulder, and pulls me closer. I inhale and recognize that he’s put some of my fancy bath oil in the water. It smells like citrus and lavender. The dam breaks again and I start sobbing, he holds me tightly and kisses my shoulder. We sit and talk well after the water has gone cold. I tell him about my mother, that she’s died, and about my favourite memories with her. He sits and he listens, he doesn’t pry and I’m so thankful for him in this moment.  
The next week goes by in a blur. I have to get my mother’s stuff sent here, I prepare the the funeral all by myself. I’ve sent invitations to anyone and everyone I’ve known to be close to her. Word gets out and a lot of people I’ve never even heard of show up. As stressful as it is to have more people than expected it is welcomed. They bring pictures, stories, and momentos my mother had left them, and I got to know more about my mother than I had before. The ceremony is packed, there isn’t enough seating and many stand off to the side. I lined the hall with flowers, lavender to be specific. She always smelled like lavender. I tell stories, some my own and some taken from others with their permission of course. I talk about how she herself brightened any room, how her laughter was so contagious it was better than any punchline to any joke. I talked about how the world was a little colder without her warmth, but the fire she lit in every life she ever touched would never, and could never be extinguished. I’m a mess by the end, but I am not alone there is not a dry eye in the place.  
By the end of the day I am exhausted. I take down the photos of my beautiful mother down from the walls of the hall I rented for the funeral. Her smiled was radiating, why she ever chose my father I could never guess. Her beauty was unrivaled, and she was the best person I’ve ever known, if I grow to even have a trace of her grace, integrity, and charm I will be better for it. She’s always been honest, loyal, smart, funny, and just beautiful in every meaning of the word. That night my dreams are filled with her. Dreams of us going camping, I hated every second of it. I hate bugs, and the smoke from the campfire, but she made it bearable. Memories from when mama and daddy were happy. Mama and daddy swinging me from my hands as a toddler. Going to the zoo, me on daddy’s shoulders while mama holds his hand. Mama crying tears of joy when she finds out I’m a meister. The memories melt together, showing a family built on love and happiness. Then it goes from blissful dreams to nightmares. Daddy kissing another woman. Mama and daddy fighting when they think I’m asleep. Daddy leaving, and mama crying in their room. Then daddy’s back, and he says mama is gone, and she’s going to be gone for a while. How can she do that? How can she leave me? How can she leave me with him? I wake up in a sweat. Soul’s heavy arm wrapped around my torso. I pull the sheets off and sneak out of bed. I tiptoe out of the bedroom and organize her stuff on a shelf in the living room, a shrine to the best woman I knew.  
I wait until Soul wakes up, then we make our way to my father’s house. I knock on the door, and am not even remotely surprised when he doesn’t answer the door. I peer into the windows and don’t see him. I sneak around back, and bust the back window with a large rock. The shocked look on Soul’s face makes me want to giggle.  
“Give me a boost.” I say, his mouth gaping a little farther. I scowl when he doesn’t make any move to help me. I clamber in, knocking stuff off of his counter in a clumsy fashion. The door 2 feet to the right opens, the rock I smashed the window with was a fake, used to hide a spare set of keys. I fall to the ground laughing, my first real moment of joy since Spirit called me over a week ago. I remember why we’re here. I stand and make my way through his home. The floor is littered with liquor bottles, and dirty clothes. I wrinkle my nose, I never would’ve thought that he lives this way. He was relatively clean when I still lived with him. I enter his room, and find broken glass. Pictures of mom are strewn across his bed, but he is nowhere to be found. We check his favourite bars, and that disgusting place with the half naked women; but noone has seen or heard from my dad since the day before he called.  
I march up the steps to the academy. If anyone knows where my dad is, or how to find him it’s Lord Death. I head straight for his office.  
“You can’t go in there. HEY! I SAID YOU CAN’T GO IN THERE!” Sid’s voice in frantic. I hear him stand and run after me, I quicken my pace. I hear a thud and see that Soul has clotheslined him. I don’t have time for this. I need to see Lord death. I need to see my dad. What kind of man delivers news like that to his daughter over the phone, then ignores her calls. The coward didn’t even come to her funeral.  
I push open the heavy, aged, wood door and storm into the room. Lord death and death the kid are talking, their conversation stops short once they see me. I can barely see the look of horror on Kid’s face because I can’t look away from Death’s mirror. My knees give way and I collapse onto the floor, I start wretching, dry heaves rock my frame. Soul barely gives me the trash can before I throw up this morning’s breakfast. I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. My chest hurts, I fight to breathe as it feels like the air has been ripped from my lungs. Tears stream down my face, and a scream tears from my throat. On the mirror is an image of my father, crouching, eyes red as the devil, pointed, jagged teeth. Eating a soul. My father is a kishin egg.  
Soul moves me into a chair. Kid brings me a glass of water. The air is heavy with tension, I can’t take my eyes off of my father. He’s more animal than human now. The quiet is killing me, but no one makes a move to break the silence.  
“Where is he.” my voice shakes.  
“He was last seen in a small town 2 hours north of here.” Lord Death says solemnly.  
“Which town?”  
“A small mining town called Black Lung.” Kid replies quietly. “I will be heading out shortly. I’m sorry for what I have to do, Maka.” I shake my head at him, and he looks genuinely confused.  
“You’re not going, I am.” there is no hesitation in my response.  
“I won’t have it. You’re in no state of mind to fight him, you have to remember he is a death scythe. He’s on a level you can’t even begin to comprehend.”  
“It has to be me. I won’t allow anyone else to go, or get in my way.” I stand. Being to openly hostile isn’t like me, but he needs to know I won’t back down.  
“He will kill you Maka. You underestimate him, and it will be the last thing you do. This isn’t up for debate or discussion.” He takes half a step towards me, and I do the same. We stand an inch apart, at best.  
“I think it’s a good idea for Kid to go.” Lord Death breaks the silence this time.  
“Not happening. It has to be me.” I’ve never been so sure in my life. I take half a step back, as a single tear rolls down my cheek. “It has to be me. My family has been through a lot, my mother is gone, my father is about to join her. I’d like to see my father one last time. Alone. It has to be me, what’s left of my family’s pride depends on it.” I stop momentarily and look at Lord Death. “You knew him best, sir. Do you think he’d want anyone to see him this way? Think of it as his last wish, and mine.”  
He sighs. “Fine, but Kid will accompany you. He is a death scythe, and I won’t send you to your death.” I give a stiff nod, and make my way out of the room. I side step to the left, and decide to wait for Kid. A few minutes after he steps from the room, I grab him by the front of his shirt and slam him against the wall. On one hand, this isn’t like me, on the other I’ve never been through anything like this.  
“You won’t be coming with me. I’m going, and you’re staying. If you come, I’ll break into your house and destroy everything to the point where NOTHING will be symmetrical again. Do you understand me?” I ask menacingly. His face goes pale and he nods. I smoothe the front of his shirt, then take a step back. “If we’re in danger, life threatening danger, we’ll retreat. We’ll call you for back up, I promise.” Some colour returns to his face, and he gives a small nod. I turn on my heel and walk out of the academy, we need to pack.  
“It’s wrong to lie to him like that.” Soul says nonchalantly. “He doesn’t know you like I do so he might not know you’re lying, but we both know you won’t call him even if your life is in danger.”  
“I might regret it later, but I needed to be sure that he won’t follow us.” I stop walking and look him dead in the eye. “Promise me if shit goes sideways, you’ll run. I’m going to kill my father, or die trying. Either way one of us is dying, but I can’t do this if it means you’d die too; and you know I need to do this.” 

Soul  
“You can’t expect me to promise that. You’re my meister if I have give my life to save yours I do so without a second thought. With no hesitation, and I’d do so happily.” she pinches the bridge of her nose.  
“Promise me.”  
“I can’t.” she stepped forward, putting both of her hands on my cheeks. My eyes water and I look away.  
“You need to, I need to do this, and I just can’t if it means you might die.” I nod slowly, closing my eyes and pressing my forehead to hers. “Is that a yes?”  
“Don’t make me say it outloud. As your weapon it’s my job to protect you, no matter the cost. This goes against everything I was taught. This goes against everything I stand for as both your weapon and your boyfriend.” I say solemnly. She needs to think that I mean it, or she’ll sneak away and leave without me.

Maka  
It feels like a weight has been lifted. I feel like I can conquer the world if Soul is with me. I can’t let myself get too cocky, this is going to be a fight like nothing I’ve seen before. Defeating the Kishin always felt like it was a fluke, physically I couldn’t ever hope to beat him. The streets blur past me, we are going home to pack, then leaving immediately. Soul goes to get his bike ready for the trip, and I pack for him. I know he can pack for himself, but the way he carelessly tosses clothes in the suitcase, clean and dirty, without folding them makes me nauseous. I hear his bike pull up outside, and I walk out into the afternoon sun and am temporarily blinded.  
“YAHOO!” Lord Death, please no. I drop the suitcase in anticipation for what’s to come. Black Star forcefully tackles me to the ground, I grunt angrily. I don’t have time for this. “I bet you didn’t even see me coming, I’m that good. I’m a fucking ninja, RIGHT TSUBAKI?!”  
“Yes, Black Star!” she replies cheerily. He climbs off of me, standing with his hands on his hips. My eyes have adjusted, and I can see the shit eating grin on his smug midget face. I quickly swipe my leg towards his with as much force as I can. I sweep his legs out from under him and he lets out a high pitched screech, as he falls he bounces off the house and lands face first on the pavement. He gets up quickly, quicker than me. He holds out his hand and helps me up.  
“I’d expect no less from you.” he remarks genuinely. Is he mildly impressed? “SO! I heard you and Soul have a super top secret, super important mission. I’m in, and so is Tsubaki. RIGHT TSUBAKI?!”  
“Yes, Black Star!” my jaw drops open. How the fuck did they hear about that?! Was it Soul or Kid who told them?  
“You’re not coming.” I say quickly.  
“Yes we are.”  
“No, you’re not.”  
“Yes, indeed, we are.” he thinks this is a game.  
“NO. YOU’RE. NOT.” he looks stunned. A look I’ve rarely seen. “My father is a kishin egg. It’s Soul and I going. Alone. That’s the end of this conversation.”  
“But-”  
“No. I need to do this alone.” I look at Tsubaki. “Promise me you won’t come, and you won’t let him come.” She look uncomfortable. “Promise me.” I insist, and she nods, a somber look in her eyes. Black Star looks like he wants to argue, his mouth opening and closing rapidly. He looks like a fish, I turn on my heel and walk to Soul. He leans against his bike, a slight smirk on his full lips. I lift the suitcase onto the back of the bike, and Soul secures it down. He climbs on, I follow and put on my helmet. He starts it up, and my arms wrap around his waist. The world blurs around me as he speeds out, I don’t pay attention as he drives. My mind flutters between mourning my mother, and what’s to come with my father. We arrive in Black Lung in an hour and a half, Soul must’ve been speeding.  
The town is small, really small. Everything is a gloomy shade of brown or grey. The streets are littered with garbage. The trashs bins are overflowing, looking like they have not been emptied in months if not years. The sidewalks are covered in cigarette butts, and various unidentified filth. I want to vomit, it would probably blend in with the decor. The people that wander the streets are not better. Most if not all are wearing dirty, stained, ripped clothing. Some aren’t even wearing shoes, the thought sends chills down my spine. Subconsciously I check the bottom of my shoe, it is black and caked with the filth from the sidewalk. Soul quickly leads us into a small, grubby building.  
We check into a small, rundown hotel, the only one in town. I’m tempted to sleep in the alley out back, it might actually be cleaner. The second we get into the room I force Soul to hold suitcase as I take a bleach wipe to every surface. I take a small, handheld vacuum to the blanket. Soul tosses the suitcase onto the bed, which subsequently bounds onto the dirty floor. I shoot him a look that could melt the flesh from his skull. He quickly picks it up, and gently places it on the freshly wiped dresser top. I’m irrationally angry, why did that piss me off so much?  
“Hungry?” he knows me well. I expelled my breakfast, and we haven’t eaten in hours. I nod and we grab our jackets and head out. We head out of the hotel, and to diner across the street. We take half a step in, and I crinkle my nose. A roach scuttles across a table, the floor is sticky. The once eggshell linoleum is now a repulsive shade of brown. Soul pulls me out by my elbow, we take the quick 5 minute walk to the only other restaurant in town. I take a breath of relief. The floors and tables are clean, and there is a heavenly smell wafting in the air. The place is packed, but luckily we get one of the last tables. A thin woman with brown hair tied into a tight bun brings waters and a menu. We both order a bacon cheeseburger and fries. The food is good, we eat mostly in silence. I eat half of mine before I give the rest to Soul, who devours both.  
“Did you tell him?” I break the silence while we wait for the bill.  
“Tell who? What?” He cocks his head to the side like a confused dog. He looks adorable.  
“Black Star… Did you tell Black Star about what we are about to do.”  
“No.” I’m not sure if I believe him. “If I told him he would’ve come along whether we liked it or not, and I know how badly you need it to be just us.” I’m finally convinced, he wouldn’t betray me like that. The bill comes, and we leave more than enough for the bill and a hefty tip. When the waitress comes by I show her the picture of my dad, she doesn’t remember seeing him, but any of the other workers could have served him. This place is 24 hours, and the only good food in town so they see a fair amount of faces. We thank her and leave. We ask a few more people on the street, and they treat us like shit. They think we’re cops, and Black Lung is not big of any kind of law enforcement. We stop by the old dirty diner, just before they close. I pull out the picture of my dad and show the waitress, a disgusted look crosses her face.  
“Have you seen this man?” I ask quickly.  
“Hey you’re the couple that walked out earlier. You’re too good for the diner, but not too good to ask me questions?” she scowls. “Maybe I’ve seen him, maybe I didn’t. I have a bad memory.” She winks at Soul, smiling at him showing a few missing teeth. He slides money across the counter, she picks it up quickly. “He came in last week, he didn’t tip. I saw him 2 days ago, hunched over. He looked rough, like he had just been in an accident.”  
“Thank you for your time.” Soul says quickly. We leave and head across the street to the hotel. We step in, and I might never get used to the smell of the place. I go to the front counter, and pull out the picture of my dad.  
“Have you seen him?” I ask quietly. The unkempt man behind the counter glares at us.  
“We’re not cops.” Soul says pulling out his wallet once again, and handing the man some money. “She’s his daughter.”  
“He had a room here, and he also stiffed us on the bill.” he grunts, his breath smells rancid.  
“When did you last see him? Do you still happen to have his stuff?” I asked quickly.  
“He was last here 2 days ago. We still have his stuff because we never actually cleaned his room.” He looks a little embarrassed.  
“Can we see the room?”  
“Can you pay his tab?” This time I pull out my wallet.  
“How much?” he tells me the amount and I do quick math and realise that if the rate for my dad’s room is the same as my room then he got here the same day he called me. He brings me to the room and lets us in.  
“I won’t let you in again, so do what you have to do now.” He peers into the room, and it’s in a similar state to father’s house. There are bottles broken, and the bedding is ripped off of the stained mattress. “He broke some stuff that’s going to be extra.”  
“Take it out of the tip I left you.” We step into the room and Soul closes the door in his face. I step carefully into the room, and start cautiously going through everything in the room. Soul chuckling makes me realize I had zoned out.  
“What?”  
“You’re cleaning.”  
“Excuse me?” He cackles, and I look down and realize he is right. I had folded his clothes and put them on the dresser, I put the broken bottles into the trash. I shrug and giggle, I guess I couldn’t help it. I continue, I go to the nightstand on the far side of the bed, and roll my eyes as i hear the crunch of glass under my shoe once again I look down, and my stomach drops. I crouch down and pick up the broken picture frame. I pull the picture out, and sit on the edge of the bed. It’s one of the last pictures we had as a family. One of the last ones we were genuinely happy. It was our trip to the waterpark, mom looked radiant as always. I was young, really young. He ripped his own face out of the picture, I find it on the ground nearby. I cry, not holding back. The weight of my mother’s death, and what I have come here to do hits me like a freight train. I sob and clutch the picture to my chest. Soul sits beside me and wraps an arm around my shoulders.  
“We should go back to our room.” I nod in agreement. We stand, and leave the room, and his things. I keep the picture. We get to the room and I take my clothes off carefully, folding them and placing them next to the suitcase. I pull out my slippers and step directly from my shoes into the fluffy white house shoes. I put on one of Soul’s shirts. He puts on his pajama pants and climbs into the bed. I slip in beside him, and his arms wrap around me pulling us closer.  
“I love you.” I whisper.  
“I love you, too.” He nuzzles my hair, and I smile.  
“I love you so much, I have problems putting it into words. I feel like nothing I can say or do can adequately represent how much you mean to me. The years we’ve spent together have meant more to me than you will ever know.” Tears fall silently down my cheek, thank god I’m small spoon. I’m thankful my voice doesn’t shake. “You are everything to me, my future husband, father to my children. You are home.” He pulls me closer.  
“We never talked about kids, how many do you want?” he sounds amused.  
“Two. Two so they can play together, but not three. If there’s three they’ll fight.” he chuckles.  
“You’re going to be a great mother.”  
“I’m not sure... I’m such a neat freak, and everything has to go according to plan, but with kids that’s a rare thing or so I’ve heard.”  
“You are the warmest person I know, and so affectionate and loving. You’ll make a beautiful mother.” He rolls me so I face him, and he kisses me softly. I kiss him a little deeper, then what little clothes we have on come off. I don’t even care that they land on the filthy floor. I don’t know if I’ll survive the fight with my dad, I need to enjoy what time I might have with Soul. We make love, it’s soft, loving, and passionate. I fall asleep with my head on his chest.  
I am woken up by the need to pee, I groan and stand up. I pull on the shirt i discarded earlier. The fluorescent light blinds me, and I squint as I do my business. The pipes groan as I turn the knobs at the bathroom sink. The water sputters a little before it runs, I wash my hands and opt to dry my hands on my shirt instead of the questionable looking towel in the bathroom. I lay back down, my eyes close and I feel myself start to drift to sleep. An eerie feeling creeps in, my eyes open. I feel awake, this feeling is so familiar, yet so wrong. I act on instinct, I roll so I’m facing Soul, and I kangaroo kick him. He lands on the floor at the same time I do, taking the blanket with him. Then the window above the bed is broken, the mattress groans. I look up at the creature with matted red hair. Two obsidian scythes are stabbed into the bed where we had been laying a second ago. The weapons disappear and become his arms again. He crouches and faces me, a menacing smile, with jagged teeth swallow up half his face.  
“Mmaaaaaakkaaaaa.” He wheezes. I get a good look at what’s left of Spirit. He is thin, too thin. His bones jut out in unnatural angles. The sides of his mouth look like the skin has ripped, giving him a wider, more menacing smile. His head twitches every few seconds. His clothes hang loose on his frame, clinging to him in some places. They’re ripped, and covered in blood; some fresh some dried. His pupils cover the entirety of his iris, the whites of his eyes stained crimson and orange, his skin looks unnatural; it looks waxy, pale with a tint of yellow. His fingernails are dirty, cracked, and chipped. He takes a step forward, one foot on the bed the other on the floor in front of me.  
“MAKA” I hear Soul yell. Soul in his scythe form comes flying through the air, making a whirring sound like a helicopter as he propels. In a flash of red my father is gone, he went through the window he had just come from. I instinctively catch the scythe, before Soul becomes his normal self.  
“Get dressed.” I throw off his sleep shirt, and get dressed faster than I think I ever have before. He is dressed before I am, all together it took maybe a minute. I climb over the bed and hop out of the window, Soul following closely. I can’t see him, but I can feel him. I close my eyes for a second and reach out mentally. I get a sense of where he is and take off running. I can hear Soul behind me, I run through the small town taking alleys and jumping fences. I end up in an even more rundown part of town. We end up at a warehouse, every window is broken. I hear a cackle, it sounds more like a howl or a shriek. I know he’s in there, waiting. I hold my hand out, within seconds a Scythe is in my palm. I’m so thankful Soul and I are so in sync. I kick in the door, and take a step back. Nothing pops out immediately, so I take a step inside. The lights are red, with a single flickering white light; it’s more than a little disorienting. Everything is slick with blood, there’s so much that the room smells like it. The door shuts behind me, rigged with wires to do so. The entire area is cluttered, a maze made out of abandoned equipment and tarp.  
“Maaakkkaaa” he hisses from somewhere. I can’t concentrate enough to feel where he is. I need to be alert. I grip the Scythe tightly, and start to navigate through the narrow passageways. I go to step down a makeshift hallway and a body drops in front of me, and I scream. There is a blood stained piece of paper attached to the front of it’s shirt. It says ‘try again’. This is a game, he wants me to find him. I’ve never met a kishin egg with enough brain function to pull something this elaborate off. I go to take a right, and another body drops. It’s so close I’m only a few inches from it. There’s another note, ‘getting closer’. I get a better look at this corpse and I feel all the colour drain from my face. It’s eyes are gouged out, and it’s completely missing it’s lower jaw.  
I continue straight, and come to a long corridor leading towards the back of the building. The hallways is pitch black, I make out a light switch and quickly flick it. There are 4 doorways lining the hallway, two on each side. All of the doors are open, the idea that he can be in either one of those is more than terrifying. I inch down the hall and look into the first room, bracing myself. I turn on the light, the room is small, and messy, but ultimately empty. The second room is very much the same. The third room’s light won’t turn on, but it’s more like a closet so I can see that it’s vacant. I turn on the light to the fourth room, and gasp. There are corpses held up by wires sewn into the flesh, within seconds they start dancing like puppets on a string. There face distorted into grotesque smiles, their teeth chattering is wires pull their jaws up and down. Now it reminds me of how marionettes look, because their jaws have been ripped off and reattached with wire. I stumble backwards, I look to the right because I see movement from the end of the hall I just came from. Spirit is running at me, both arms in scythes. Jagged and horrid, they look completely different. I jump backwards as he swipes at me, barely missing. All I can do is dodge.  
“Maka, be careful.” I can hear Soul’s voice in my head. Spirit lurches forward again, his scythe skimming my clothes and tearing them. I am dodging any which way I can, but I’m not able to see where I’m going. I slam into a broken machine, the tarp blankets over me, the inside is slick I’m assuming with blood. I push out of the tarp, and see he has arranged more bodies on the old rusty equipment in grotesque and disgusting poses. Their bodies held together in sexual, and violent positions. I hear him laugh, but I can’t see him. I can hear my heart beating in my ears, my hands sweat profusely against the hilt of the scythe. I hear footsteps approaching quickly from my left, I pivot and hold Soul at an arms length. Spirit crashes into me, we slide back a few feet.  
“Whhat’s wroonggg Mmmmmaka? Yyyooouuuuu haven’tttt attaackedd yyyyyet.” his shrill voice is followed by a laugh that is more of a shriek. I don’t know if it’s because he is mocking me, but I step to the side quickly, and he falls. He proceeds to run on all fours like a wild beast, his limbs jutting out at awkward angles; it makes this feeling of unease even worse. I run after him, but ultimately lose him behind a mound of bodies, molded and sewn into the shape of what can only be described as a throne. I fight off nausea, I have never seen anything more disturbing in my life.  
“Youu knoow, the bodyyy iss ssupposssed to dissssipate once the sssoul is reeeaped. Goooone. I fooound a waaay arooound it. I neeeededd to keeep themmm. Yesss. Trooophiess. Beeeing withh Steinn taaaught meee a lottt. A lot.” his words came out in a wheeze, the sound so distorted is almost sounded like a whistle. Like an accordian with holes in it, it sounded forced and laboured. He jumps over the bodies, using them as leverage; causing a repulsive squishing sound. He attacks, I dodge or block. Think, Maka, think. I need to study his movements, and hopefully find an opening to finish him quickly. He presses forward and I take cautious steps back. Not cautious enough though, I don’t trip; but I am trapped. My back in against a wall, but the wall isn’t metal or stone. I stab Soul into the wall beside me to my right and propel myself out of the way. He slashed my back, I feel blood pour down the back of my legs. I grit my teeth not to scream. I turn and face him, bringing the pointed edge down towards his neck. It lodges into his chest, he screams. He then grabs the blade, and flings Soul to the side. He staggers towards me, blood dripping from his maw.  
“Tryy agaiinnn.” he laughs, raising his arm, now a scythe, above his head. I close my eyes. Please leave Soul, don’t die with me. I hear a thud, then a splatter. A scythe blade is protruding out of Spirit’s torso, Soul’s arm went right through. “TSK TSK TSK. THAAAT’SS NOTT NIIICE SSSSSOUL.” blades come out of Spirit’s elbows and he thrusts them backward and into Soul. Both land into his stomach right above the hip bones. I scream, push past Spirit, he stumbles a few steps behind me and slumps on to the grotesque throne. I kneel beside Soul, into the growing pool of his blood. His lips are blue, his breaths are short and shallow. If I don’t get him help soon he won’t make it. I know Spirit is waiting, even if he let us leave I doubt I’d ever find him again. I start shaking, this feeling takes over. I can feel the shock setting in, and myself mentally check out. On autopilot I rise, I sprint to the monster that was my father. My forearms, from the elbow down turn into weapons. The thing gasps, then laughs. “Yoou’re a weappppppon. IIII NEVERR KNEEEW.” He gets up, and crouches low, launching himself at me. Both arms turning into scythes, he looks like a praying mantis. A blade comes pointed up towards my chin, I parry and stab into his shoulder, he laughs. I knee him in the gut, pushing off of him, my weapon glittering with blood so thick it looks black. He huffs between laughs now. “Ifff I cooouldddd feel annythiiiing I miiighttt be pppproud.” The floor underneath us is slick, I carefully walk towards him, he sits on the floor cross legged and slumped over. He’s lost a lot of blood. I turn my hand into a small dagger, and stab him in the chest where I expect his heart to be. I kneel just in time to catch him as he slumps forward. I can see the light quickly draining from his eyes. A tear slides down my cheek and lands on his face leaving a clean streak amongst the blood. I hadn’t realized I was crying.  
“I’m sorry papa.” I hiccup. “I’m sorry I never thought of how this would rip you apart. I lost my mother, and you lost your soulmate. You’d always said she was the only woman you’d ever loved, but I never quite believed you.” I sob quietly. “I love you. I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you. When you called I should have went to you, I should’ve looked for you and we should have grieved together. Fuck. I’m so fucking sorry. I’m sorry it happened this way.” He coughs up blood and I freeze, he bloody hand wipes a tear from my face.  
“I love you, too.” the last words he whispered before he died. The glowing orb was all that remained after his heart stopped beating, the weight of his body lifted too quickly. I stare at his soul. Do I take it? My lips tremble, I close my eyes, and I consume his soul. I sobb loudly, hugging myself before everything comes rushing back.  
“SOUL” I shriek I stand and spin so quickly and run, until I am face to face with… Blackstar? He hugs me tightly, and strokes my hair. I bawl my eyes out and hug him so tightly my legs give out. He puts a jacket over my shoulders and carries me out of the warehouse.  
“I’m sorry we didn’t get here sooner. I tried sneaking away when I thought Tsubaki was asleep. She caught me and I told her she can come with me or I’d go alone but either way she wasn’t going to stop me. I should’ve left sooner. I didn’t want to disturb your last moments with your father but we got Soul out.” He sees the panic on my face. “We got to him in time. Tsubaki has him patched up, the best she can anyways with the field medic kit she has. We need to leave now though. You need medical attention too.”  
“How did you know where-”  
“Kid told me. He said he couldn’t come himself, I don’t know why. He told us that you were going on a dangerous mission and he wanted you to have back up. ”  
“I threatened to trash his home so it wouldn’t be symmetrical anymore.” his booming laugh makes me deaf in one ear for a second.  
The next days, weeks, months blurred by. I held a ceremony for my father. He has an empty grave plot beside my mother’s. She would’ve hated it, but I know somewhere deep down inside she loved him to her last day. He was her soulmate too; and a part of each of them, no matter how small, always belonged to the other. The picture I took from spirit's hotel room hangs in the middle of my shrine for my dead parents. The photograph is weathered and worn, but my father's face is taped back in place. Soul took a long time to recover. I am finding it hard to forgive myself, another scar, another sacrifice for me. I’m not quite sure why I consumed my father’s soul, but I know one thing for sure. It’ll be my first and only.


End file.
